OXIDATION STABILITY OF FATTY ACID METHYL ESTERS

The ageing properties of fossil diesel fuel and of fatty acid methyl ester differ substantially, a fact which is due to the natural origin of the latter. It has been considered to include a limit for oxidation stability in the existing quality standard for biodiesel. Therefore the relationship between oxidation stability and other quality parameters has to be examined. BLT Wieselburg has successfully applied the Rancimat test, a test known from food chemistry which determines the oxidation stability by considering the induction period. Storage tests were conducted under various conditions and the oxidation stability and other quality parameters were examined. To determine the oxidation stability of FAME a round robin test was carried out, in which a test method similar to that of the Rancimat method was applied. In the course of the development of the method the oxidation stability of biodiesel samples from several European manufacturers was tested and compared to other quality parameters